So, my company (Plethora Internet) builds computers. Not very many. We don’t do much in the “we need a computer for under $700” market. We don’t do swarms of identical 1U servers.
What we do do is moderately specialized systems. We built a couple of machines that got used by Internet2. And, a while back, we sold a machine to NASA.
This left us with a problem. We have discounts for educational and non-profit organizations… But, while NASA has never turned a profit, they aren’t exactly a “non-profit organization”. And we certainly don’t want to give a discount to “government agencies” in general.
So.
I declared, by fiat, the “space travel is way cool” discount. This discount applies on sales to organizations or entities doing space travel and related research. It’s the same discount we give everyone else (10% off, leaving us with no profit margin after warranty)… But it’s the “space travel is way cool” discount. It’s the special discount we give for space travel.
Building computers is a lot of fun. The deal is, I like shopping for hardware, and I enjoy speccing things out. Building computers is a way to do this on someone else’s dime, and it’s not illegal.
If you’re curious, a few caveats:\
- No laptops. There’s just no cost-effective way to build a laptop from parts.\
- We are not competing with e-machines.\
- We will not sell a machine without ECC memory and a motherboard that supports ECC memory.\
- No VIA chipsets. We got burned on a VIA-based board that claimed to support ECC memory, but actually, merely allowed you to use it - no error correction. We’ve also had problems with keyboards, with strange problems powering up VGA cards, and a dozen other things. No VIA chipsets. Never again.\
- While we can, if we really push, get a system’s price down a ways, what we’re best at is the medium-heavy-duty servers. Ultra 320 SCSI, a gigabyte or more of memory, and a solid (if somewhat pricey) motherboard.\
- We don’t sell parts. We sell systems.
The deal is… It’s really hard to compete on parts without buying in bulk, and that’s not particularly viable as a side project business model. On cheap systems, you’re still basically competing purely on price. With the more expensive systems, you can make some money with just a small markup on parts… But because those systems are no longer partaking fully in some of the economies of scale, that’s where a lot of vendors have their biggest markups, and thus, one of the niches where we can compete with the Big Name vendors.
But… We can make at least a few boxes, and we can make some small money in the process.
And even when there’s not much profit in it, well… Space travel. Is way cool. Good enough for me.
Comments [archived]
From: mikky cole
Date: 2006-11-06 08:10:20 -0600
am tying to addf my creditcards in paypal ,but they told me befor i add i should go to cardproblem@paypal.com. please what do i do now
From: mikky cole
Date: 2006-11-06 08:13:28 -0600
am tying to add my creditcards in paypal .and they told me that before i add it ,i should go to cardproblem@paypal.com, please what do i do now
From: levester milligan
Date: 2007-03-15 15:05:35 -0500
trying to add credit card from canceled account to new once an i was sent to cardproblem@paypal.com how do i add
From: silka de guerrero
Date: 2007-08-05 12:35:16 -0500
i try to add my credit card to pay pal but they told me to go to cardproblem@paypal.com how i do that
From: rickey barnbrook
Date: 2007-08-16 18:53:57 -0500
new account want to add my card won’t let me told me got to this web site
From: walter conway
Date: 2008-02-26 20:43:33 -0600
i am trying to pay for a item with my credit card and it is telling me to go tocardproblems@paypal.com and i did but i still cant pay for my itemwhat do i do to fixs this
From: Jacluynn B Corbisier
Date: 2008-03-09 04:09:36 -0500
My business account was removed from PayPal due to my request. This card is mine and I do not want to pay through a PayPal accountI just want to pay by that business debit card without
PayPal restricting my purchase
It is my right to do so.
From: kenneth bolen
Date: 2008-12-07 17:20:39 -0600
I would like to add a master card instead of visa card that has expired
From: kenneth bolen
Date: 2008-12-07 17:20:45 -0600
I would like to add a master card instead of visa card that has expired
From: PATRICIA
Date: 2008-12-08 03:00:49 -0600
I WANT TO CARD TO MY ACCONT
and make it verified
From: PATRICIA
Date: 2008-12-08 03:01:00 -0600
I WANT TO CARD TO MY ACCONT
and make it verified
From: PATRICIA
Date: 2008-12-08 03:03:22 -0600
Iwant to add to my account please help
and make it verified
From: patricia
Date: 2008-12-08 03:09:40 -0600
I’m told to go to cardproblems@paypal.com for
help with adding cards to my acc
From: patricia
Date: 2008-12-08 03:10:30 -0600
I’m told to go to cardproblems@paypal.com for
help with adding cards to my acc
From: patricia
Date: 2008-12-08 04:56:43 -0600
I’m trying to add card to my
paypal account please help
the message I saw said so
From: patricia
Date: 2008-12-10 03:59:49 -0600
help me to add card to
my account